Web Information Disclosure and Reliance on Financial Service Industry

This study investigates how Web users build reliance on information disclosed by the financial service industry. Unlike most prior studies that focused on business' incentives to dismiss information, this study collects Web users' perceptions, using survey questionnaires on six information categories. The results show that risk-management-related information is positively related to Web user's reliance. These findings imply that the financial service industry can rebuild public reliance through more transparent reporting on information regarding risk, especially after the turmoil resulting from the recent financial crisis.